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TECHNICAL REPORTS

Vadose Zone Processes and Chemical Transport

Fate of Diuron and Linuron in a Field Lysimeter Experiment

^a Istituto di Ricerca sulle Acque - CNR, via Della Mornera 25, 20047 Brugherio (MI), Italy
^b Istituto di Chimica Agraria ed Ambientale, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Via Emilia Parmense 84, 29100 Piacenza, Italy
^c Dipartimento di Chimica, Università La Sapienza, Piazza Aldo Moro 5, 00100 Roma, Italy
^d Italy Istituto di Ricerca Sulle Acque - CNR, Via Reno 1, 00198 Roma, Italy

^* Corresponding author (guzzella{at}irsa.cnr.it)

Received for publication January 20, 2004. The environmental fate of herbicides can be studied at different levels: in the lab with disturbed or undisturbed soil columns or in the field with suction cup lysimeters or soil enclosure lysimeters. A field lysimeter experiment with 10 soil enclosures was performed to evaluate the mass balance in different environmental compartments of the phenylurea herbicides diuron [3-(3,4-diclorophenyl)-1,1-dimethyl-urea] and linuron [3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1-methoxy-1-methylurea]. After application on the agricultural soil, the herbicides were searched for in soil, pore water, and air samples. Soil and water samples were collected at different depths of the soil profile and analyzed to determine residual concentrations of both the parent compounds and of their main transformation products, to verify their persistence and their leaching capacity. Air volatilization was calculated using the theoretical profile shape method. The herbicides were detected only in the surface layer (0–10 cm) of soil. In this layer, diuron was reduced to 50% of its initial concentration at the end of the experiment, while linuron was still 70% present after 245 d. The main metabolites detected were DCPMU [3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1-methylurea] and DCA (3,4-dichloroaniline). In soil pore water, diuron and linuron were detected at depths of 20 and 40 cm, although in very low concentrations. Therefore the leaching of these herbicides was quite low in this experiment. Moreover, volatilization losses were inconsequential. The calculated total mass balance showed a high persistence of linuron and diuron in the soil, a low mobility in soil pore water (less than 0.5% in leachate water), and a negligible volatilization effect. The application of the Pesticide Leaching Model (PELMO) showed similar low mobility of the chemicals in soil and water, but overestimated their volatilization and their degradation to the metabolite DCPMU. In conclusion, the use of soil enclosure lysimeters proved to be a good experimental design for studying mobility and transport processes of herbicides in field conditions.

Abbreviations: DCA, 3,4-dichloroaniline • DCPMU, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-1-methylurea • DCPU, 3-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)urea • K_oc, organic carbon partition coefficient • PELMO, Pesticide Leaching Model • PUF, polyurethane foam cartridge • TP, transformation product • TPS, theoretical profile shape

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